The present invention relates generally to a brake unit, a clutch unit or clutch/brake unit combined with an inching drive and, more particularly, to an integrated inching drive for an oil submerged brake unit or clutch/brake unit.
Clutch/brake units and brake units have several applications to which they can be applied. One application involves inching of the output shaft of the unit, such as in setting a male die versus a female die, feeding of sheet metal stock or paper, or use of any type of conveyor, turntable or other automation equipment where indexing may be used. Another application may be to provide progressive die pressing or punching operations. For the clutch/brake unit or brake unit to be applied to these various additional applications which are presently not applicable to clutch/brake units or brake units of the type described, a separate inching motor must be secured as a replacement on the input shaft of the clutch/brake unit externally of the unit to replace whatever drive motor is normally attached to that input shaft or physically replace the main motor and brake unit with an inching drive and brake unit.
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to expand the capability of the submerged clutch/brake unit or brake unit to various inching operations with an integrated yet removable inching drive unit. In furtherance of this object, a modular inching drive unit is presented herein which permits the option of inching to be used or not used as described, without inhibiting the various other applications to which the clutch/brake unit or brake unit may be applied.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an inching drive which need not be removed from the clutch/brake unit or brake unit when not used, yet will not effect any other function performed by the clutch/brake unit or the brake unit. Accordingly, a control mechanism is included with the indexing drive having a clutch actuation mechanism which is activated whenever inching movemnt is desired. This actuation mechanism is pneumatically-controlled and the clutch mechanism for the actuation mechanism is submerged in oil. The inching drive mechanism is readily incorporated into a clutch/brake unit with minimal modification of the basic unit, and may be completely removed from the clutch/brake unit without affecting the basic operation of the unit.
Further objects of the present invention are to provide a new and improveed inching drive for a clutch/brake unit or a brake unit of the character described which is simple and compact in design, economical to produce and operate, extremely rugged and mainetnance-free during operation, and adaptable to be selectively employed in a variety of type of automation equipment settings where indexing or inching is desirable.